Blurts & Spasms

Hmmm. Well, here are some steps that will help nudge the U.S. in that direction:

1. Interference with elections to force a desired outcome is a fairly common trait of what we are called “authoritarian regimes” around the world. And we see certain factions in U.S. politics attempting to do that — by refusing to certify local ballot results, or scheming to submit a list of fake electors, or propagating conspiracy theories that undermine public trust in election officials, or disenfranchising voters who are likely to vote in undesirable ways, or even encouraging a violent attack in the capital to prevent the peaceful transition of government.
2. Another common strategy is the installation of political judges who contradict established law and longstanding interpretations of the Constitution to facilitate a given leader’s consolidation of power.
3. Legislative capture is also common, where members refuse to introduce, debate, or move legislation forward at the behest of a single political leader — or will introduce cookie-cutter legislation at the state and federal levels created by lobbying organizations acting on a particular leader’s agenda.
4. Destroying any other checks and balances in government has also been helpful — such as dis-empowering agencies or branches of government that can countervail the will of the Executive branch…or strengthening the power of the Executive branch so it can no longer be countervailed or held accountable in any way.
5. Jailing (or killing) anyone who represents political opposition.

With the exception of #5, we’ve already seen these tendencies in the current GOP’s approach to executive, legislative, and grass roots activism. Project 2025 amplifies many of these efforts to a fever pitch of revolution. Mr. Trump has threatened to exact vengeance on his adversaries using the Justice Department, which very much sounds like #5.

So…if we keep going in the direction of the current MAGA movement’s deliberate efforts, it’s quite possible that we will be a democracy in name only, and like Russia or China or Iran, we will in fact become a dictatorship in just a few short years.

Stay tuned….